Battle of Solway Moss

The Battle of Solway Moss (24 November 1542) was a major battle of the Anglo-Scots Wars that was fought between the armies of Scotland and England.

When King Henry VIII of England broke from the Catholic Church, he asked for his nephew, King James V of Scotland, to do the same. James ignored his uncle's request and refused to meet him at York, leading to King Henry sending troops against Scotland. In response to the massive English raid, King James responded by assigning Robert, Lord Maxwell, Warden of the West March, the task of raising an army. On 24 November 1542, Maxwell's 18,000-strong Scottish army invaded England, with Oliver Sinclair (the king's favorite) serving as acting commander of the army in Maxwell's absence. The other Scottish commanders refused to take orders from Sinclair, creating confusion in the ranks. The Scots advance into England was met near Solway Moss by the 3,000-strong English army of Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton, and the Scottish army found itself penned in between the Esk River and the Solway Moss peat bog. After intense fighting, the Scots surrendered themselves and their 10 guns to the English cavalry. Hundreds of Scots drowned in the marshes and the river, and the humiliated and ill King James V withdrew to Falkland Palace, dying two weeks after the defeat at the young age of 30. Only around 7 Englishmen and 20 Scots were killed in the fighting, while 1,200 Scots (including Sinclair, three Earls, and several other soldiers) were captured.